Andrew b



(No Model.)

2 sheets-sh'en 1. E. H. MIDDAUGH.

MAIL POUCH 0R BAG. N0. 558,826.

Patented Apr. 21, 1896.

GRAHAM. PHOYOUTHOWASNINGTON. Dc

Arne nfrnNr ELMER II. MIDDAUGH, OF GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TOGEORGE G. BRIGGS, ALBERT .I. GIDDINGS, AND IIOMER I.. BOYLE, OF SAMEPLACE.

NiAlL POUCH OR BAG.

SPECIFICATION forming` part of Letters :Patent NO. 558,826, dated April21, 1896. Application filed August 12,1895. Serial No. 559,093. (Nomodel.)

To @ZZ whom, it may concern: mouthpiece closed, part being broken away.Be it known that I, ELMER H. MIDDAU GH, a Fig. S is a cross-sect-ion onthe line VIII VIII citizen of the United States, residing at the of Fig.7, showing also attached parts of the city of Grand Rapids, in thecounty of Kent mail-sack in section. Fig. 9 is a cross-sec- 55 5 andState of Michigan, have invented a certion on the line IX IX of Fig. 7.

tain new and useful Mail Pouch or Bag, of The plates composing themouthpiece or which the following is a specification. closure of themail bag or pouch are made,

This invention relates to mail bags or preferably, of wood fiber, butthey may be pouches for carrying mail-matter and for made of any othersuitable material. 60

1o other purposes, but more particularly to As shown, the two longerplates or sections mouth-plates or closures for mail-bags. A A at oneside of the mouth of the pouch or The primary objects of my inventionare to sack are pivotally connected to the shorter provide a mouthpiecefor mail-bags and the section B, while the corresponding longer seclikewhich shall be light and iieXible, yet tions AA on the opposite side arepivotally 65 15 strong and durable, simple in construction, connected tothe short section B', the three and inexpensive in manufacture. sectionsA AB forming one half of the mouth- Other objects are to provide amouthpiece piece or closure, while the three opposite coror closure formail-bags or other similar conresponding sections A', A, and B form thetrivances adapted to present an opening of other half thereof. 7o

zo large area for the reception of mail-matter, and The several platesor sections of the mouthto permit a free and unobstructed dischargepiece, as shown in Figs. l to 9, inclusive, are thereof, so as tofacilitate the filling of the channeled or U-shaped in cross-section.Two bag with letters, papers, dac., and the emptyof the longer sectionsand one of the shorter ing of the saine of its contents, and to preventsections, forming one side or half of the mouth- 7 5 2 5 a letter orpackage from catching into a crevpiece, are preferably larger than theopposite ice or onto a projection in the act of being correspondingsections, so that the smaller discharged, and, further, to provide amouthsections may close into or iit snugly within piece or closure whichmay readily iiex or the concavity or channel formed in the larger foldin opposite directions to prevent bendsections when the mouthpiece isclosed, as 8o 3o ing the sections of the mouthpiece in use. shown. inFigs. 2, 3, 4, 7, S, and 9. The longer The invention will iirst bedescribed with sections of each half or side are connected at referenceto the accompanying drawings, one end to an intermediate shorter sectionwhich are to be taken as a part of this speciand have their opposite orouter ends pivoted iication, and then pointed out in the claims to theouter ends of the opposing longer sec- 8 5 3 5 at the end of thedescription. tions, so as to adapt the smaller sections to In thedrawings, Figure l represents a plan iit into the channel or concavityin the inner or top view of the pivotally-connected plates faces orsides of the larger sections, and the forming the mouthpiece or closurefor the several sections are provided with pendent mouth of amail-pouch, showing the mouth iianges, as at a a', to the inner sides ofwhich 9o 4o open. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same with the 4upperedges of the mail pouch or sack the pouch closed and locked. Fig. 3 is aplan may be secured, as shown more clearly in side or top view showingthe mouthpiece closed view in Fig. 7 and in cross-section in Fig. S, andfolded in triangular form. Fig. 4E is a the cloth or leather forming thepouch being plan or top View of the same, showing the attached by rivetsor otherwise to the inside 95 45 parts folded in the opposite direction,with of the flanges entirely around the framework the longer plates incontact. Fig. 5 is a fragor mouth-plates, so as to present a smoothsurmentary top view showing the jointed plates face between the pouchand mouthpiece and or sections of the mouthpiece slightly sepatherebyprevent letters or other mail-matter rated and provided with alabel-holding defrom lodging or catching onto projections loo 5o vice.Fig. G is a cross-section on the line VI when emptying the pouch. Thismethod of -VI of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a side view of the attachment alsotends to strengthen the mouth-plates and obviates the necessity forusing protecting plates or strengthening means. A staple C, projectingfrom the inner side of the intermediate plate or section B, is adaptedto pass through an opening in the section B when the mouthpiece isclosed, so as to receive a padlock D or other suitable fastening.

E denotes a handle or loop for carrying the pouch, sack, or bag proper,F, the upper edges of which are shown as they appear when the sack isclosed in Figs. S and 9, such handle being attached to the framework ofthe mouthpiece.

As will be seen more clearly in Figs. 7 and 9, the pivots which connectthe longer and shorter plates or sections are so arranged that when themouthpiece is closed the pivots of the smaller sections will becoincident with the pivots of the larger sections, so as to pass betweenthe upper and lower rivets of the larger sections, as shown in Fig. 9,whereby the mouthpiece is adapted to flex or yield at the joints and tobe turned upon its intermediate pivots in such manner as to fold readilyin opposite directions toward either right or left, as indicated inFigs. 3 and fi, thereby adapting the mouthpiece to readily give or yieldunder pressure without bending or warping the individual sections.

One of the intermediate: sections, as B', is formed or provided with arecessed projection b', adapted to receive and hold any suitable label,which may be retained in position in the recess, when the mouthpiece isclosed, by a flange or projection Z) on the opposite correspondingsection, the iiange being adapted to come into contact with orsufficiently near the label when the mouthpiece is closed to confine thelabel in position in the recessed holder and prevent displacementthereof until the closure is unlocked and opened. l A metallic or othersuitable label may be employed, with any desired inscription thereon.

A mouthpiece or closure constructed as thus far described is not onlystrong and durable in use, but is sufficiently iexible to preventbending and consequent injury to individual sections, and enables theuser to fold the same when closed into either of the positions indicatedin Figs. 3 and 4, and to readily open the mouth of the bag, so as toprovide a hexagonal or polygonal opening, which is approximatelycircular and therefore of large area, aifordin g free access to andegress from the pouch for the purpose of filling or emptying the same,and which at the same time may be closed and locked at a single point,and the rivets connecting the intermediate sections with the longer onescannot be removed without practically destroying the mouthpiece, for, as,will be seen in Fig. 9, the largersections A B are connected by shortupper and lower rivets c c, which are exposed at one end only, while thesmaller sections A and B are connected by a single rivet or pivotpin c',which, when the parts are closed, is not exposed at either end, butappears to be a continuation of the smaller rivets c, and the inner endsof both sets of rivets are preferably eountersunk, so as to be iush withthe surface of the plate through which they pass and thereby presentsmooth contacting surfaces Vhen the sack is closed, three of themouth-plates will lit securely and snugly into three of the opposingplates, and in case either plate should become bent by accident orotherwise it may be readily straightened without removing the same fromthe sack, or, if broken, another plate may be readily substituted in itsstead. The rivets, which attach together the sections of themouth-plates, may also, if desired, be made vof different designs, sothat if one should be lost or removed and another substituted the sackwill show that an alteration has been made, and thus afford means fordetecting and thereby preventing tampering with the mails.

In stead of providing channeled or U -shaped plates, as hereinbeforedescribed, the plates in Fig. 2 may be cut away, as indicated by thedotted lines, to lessen the weight.

It will be observed that in the several figures the mouth-plates uponone side of the mouth of the bag are adapted to close and fit snuglyinto-7l. e., within or in interlocking' relation to--the opposing platesforming the other half of the mouthpiece, so that when the mouthpiece isclosed the intermediate pivot or pivots connecting the sectionscomposing opposite sides or halves of the mouthpiece will be so arrangedthat the intermediate pivots on one side will be brought into the samevertical plane with the corresponding pivots of the opposing sectionsthe intermediate pivots of the two opposing sections being thus made tocoincide, thus permitting the mouthpiece to flex at the joints andassume various positions between the straight position shown in Fig. 2and the folded positions shown in Figs. 3 and 4.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

1. A sectional flexible mouthpiece or closure for mail-bags and thelike, the sections of which are pivotally connected together end to endand adapted when spread apart to form an opening of large area; thesections upon one side of the mouth of the bag being adapted to closeinto the opposing sections so as to arrange themselves in the samelongitudinal plane therewith, with the pivots of the intermediatesection upon one side in the same vertical plane with the pivots of theintermediate plate of the opposing sections, whereby the closure mayflex or yield at the joints toward either the right or left and maybecompactly folded in leither direction, substantially as described.

2. A sectional flexible mouthpiece or closure for mail-bags and thelike, comprising for each side of the mouthpiece three pivotally- IOOIIO

connected plates or sections; those upon one side being adapted to fitinto the opposing sections so as to be arranged in the same longitudinalplane, with the pivots connecting the intermediate and end sections inthe same vertical plane, whereby the closure may flex or yield at thejoints both right and left and may be compactly folded in eitherdirection, substantially as described.

3. A mouthpiece or closure for mail-bags and the like comprising, foreach side of the bag, three pivotally-connected plates or sections twoof which are longer than the intermediate section to which they arepivoted at their inner ends, the outer ends of the longer sections beingpivoted to the outer ends of corresponding opposing sections and theintermediate shorter sections being arranged diametrically opposite eachother; the pivots uniting the longer and shorter sections upon one sidebeing so arranged that when the mouthpiece is closed the pivots of bothintermediate sections will be coincident with each other at the joints,to permit the closure to flex either to the right or to the left and tobe compactly folded in either direction, substantially as described.

4. A mouthpiece or closure for mail-bags comprising, for each side ofthe bag, a pair of channeled or U-shaped plates pivotally connected attheir inner ends to a short similar section and having their outer endspivoted to the outer ends of the longer plates of similar opposingsections, the plates upon one side being larger than those upon theother and arranged so that when closed the smaller plates may iit snuglywithin the concavities of the larger ones, with the pivots of theintermediate smaller plate fitting between the pivots of the largerintermediate plate and coincident therewith, substantially as described.

5. A mouthpiece or closure for mail-bags and the like, comprising, foreach side of the bag, a series of pivotally-connected plates or sectionshaving pendent flanges to which the upper edges of the mail bag or pouchmay be secured; said plates being adapted when closed to fit one intothe other so that the contiguous edges of the mail-sack may be broughtvinto close contact between the flanges of opposing plates; the pivotsof the intermediate section upon one side of the sack being coincidentwith the pivots of the corresponding opposing section when closed, so asto permit iiexure in opposite directions, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presenceof two witnesses.

ELMER H. MIDDAUGH. [L s] lVitnesses EDWARD TAGGART, CHRISTOPHERHONDELINK.

